Philip Bump Goes Full Robin DiAngelo on America

When news broke on Wednesday that FBI Director Christopher Wray intends to resign before Donald Trump takes over in January, the cast of CNN News Central was distressed. Rather than claiming that everything that led up to Trump’s intention to fire Wray, the cast claimed the idea that Wray would need to resign before Trump takes office was what was a sign of the Bureau’s “politicization.” Senior justice correspondent Evan Perez reported that not everyone inside the Bureau was thrilled with Wray’s decision, and judging by his reaction, Perez agreed with them, “There also was pushback from people inside this building, also from people at the FBI, which is not normalizing what Donald Trump is doing, which is to just habitually replace FBI directors that he doesn't like. These people are supposed to serve ten-year terms for a reason, to try to remove them from the influence of politics, and here, Donald Trump is now about to have his second FBI director, in this case with Christopher Wray pushing him out ahead of the time that he takes office.”     The 10-year term is clearly at odds with the idea of separation of powers. The only reason the courts haven’t nuked it yet is precisely because the president can fire the director any time he wants. As it was, co-host Brianna Keilar agreed, “Yeah, it's a real politicization of the FBI, even as people argue, ‘Oh, it's been politicized. So there needs to be change.’ It's sort of this wheel in a way that keeps going on this issue, Evan. I wonder if you have a sense of how people working inside the FBI are feeling about this and the effect that this may have internally on those folks who are doing this work day in and day out." After Perez recalled how Wray is popular inside the FBI, he added, “That has obviously not worked out that well for, especially among Republicans who have been very critical of a number of things, including, of course, investigations of Donald Trump. The Mar-a-Lago search is something that Donald Trump himself raised in his interview over the weekend with NBC.”  Moving on to Wray’s likely replacement, Perez continued: So, there's a lot of concern because you have heard from Kash Patel, who is the incoming president's pick to run the FBI next. You've heard that they're planning to try to, they want to go after the former president—the president's political enemies. And so inside the FBI, there's a lot of concern that the bureau is going to be turned essentially to go after Trump's enemies and take its eye off the ball on things that are actually a threat to this country, including, of course, the threat from China, from Russia, from Iran, the national security threats, terrorism, all of those things that really are the bread and butter and the vast majority of what the FBI does. Keilar casually dismissed the “it’s been politicized” claims, but that view doesn’t just appear out of nowhere. The entire argument, which has been backed by a special councel, for Patel is that the FBI, as currently constituted, seems more interested in going after Trump than all those real threats Perez listed. At the same time, incoming Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley has recently deplored Wray's tenure, not just about the Mar-a-Lago raid that Perez mentioned, but non-partisan matters like how "FBI’s ongoing mishandling of sexual harassment claims made by the FBI’s female employees." Here is a transcript for the December 11 show: CNN News Central 12/11/2024 2:10 PM ET EVAN PEREZ: But there also was pushback from people inside this building, also from people at the FBI, which is not normalizing what Donald Trump is doing, which is to just habitually replace FBI directors that he doesn't like. These people are supposed to serve ten-year terms for a reason, to try to remove them from the influence of politics, and here, Donald Trump is now about to have his second FBI director, in this case with Christopher Wray pushing him out ahead of the time that he takes office. So at this hour, we know that the FBI director is talking to FBI employees. He wanted to make sure they heard the news from him, while he also tries to make it clear that he plans to get out of the way before the new president takes over. Boris? BRIANNA KEILAR: Yeah, it's a real politicization of the FBI, even as people argue, “Oh, it's been politicized. So there needs to be change.” It's sort of this wheel in a way that keeps going on this issue, Evan. I wonder if you have a sense of how people working inside the FBI are feeling about this and the effect that this may have internally on those folks who are doing this work day in and day out. PEREZ: There's a lot of concern inside the FBI. Look, Chris Wray is actually pretty popular inside the Bureau because, you know, one of the things he has done is he has tried to lower the temperature for the FBI. There's a lot of criticism from the previous leadership of the FBI, James Comey, and the way, how he handled the office, especially when Donald Trump first took office in the first term. So, inside the FBI, Chris Wray has been seen actually as a very thoughtful, as a very quiet leader, someone who is trying to restore the reputation of the FBI. That has obviously not worked out that well for, especially among Republicans who have been very critical of a number of things, including, of course, investigations of Donald Trump. The Mar-a-Lago search is something that Donald Trump himself raised in his interview over the weekend with NBC.  So, there's a lot of concern because you have heard from Kash Patel, who is the incoming president's pick to run the FBI next. You've heard that they're planning to try to, they want to go after the former president— the president's political enemies. And so inside the FBI, there's a lot of concern that the bureau is going to be turned essentially to go after Trump's enemies and take its eye off the ball on things that are actually a threat to this country, including, of course, the threat from China, from Russia, from Iran, the national security threats, terrorism, all of those things that really are the bread and butter and the vast majority of what the FBI does.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) sounded the alarm about the lame-duck Democrat-led Senate moving earth and heaven to secretly pass legislation that poses an impending threat to Americans’ freedom of speech.  Paul warned via X that Sen. Richard Blumenthal’s (D-CT) newly re-introduced Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), a censorship-prone bill, could be snuck into a larger bill in the final days of Democratic control. “Reminder: KOSA poses such a dire threat to our First Amendment rights that House and Senate leadership must not agree to add it at the last minute to larger pieces of legislation, like the Defense or government spending bills,” Paul wrote Monday in a post sharing an article by the Competitive Enterprise Institute.  [Story Continues on MRC Free Speech America]

Republican Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio and Chip Roy of Texas co-authored a letter exclusively obtained by Blaze News slamming the Biden Department of Justice for prosecuting a medical whistleblower who shed light on transgender medical interventions used on children. The DOJ is prosecuting Dr. Eithan Haim, a whistleblower who exposed the Texas Children's Hospital for performing transgender surgeries and treatments on minors, for allegedly committing HIPAA violations despite withholding sensitive medical or personal information about the patients. Haim's advocacy alerted Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, prompting him to issue a formal opinion in 2022, categorizing the procedures as child abuse. 'The DOJ's prosecution of Dr. Haim for blowing the whistle on criminal child abuse is wrong.'"The hospital's actions raise concerns that this is continuing to intentionally harm young children for the purpose of a left-wing policy agenda," the letter reads. Although Texas Children's Hospital announced that it would cease the transgender medical interventions on minors just a month after Paxton's statement, Haim revealed the hospital had continued the surgeries. As a result, the DOJ decided to prosecute Haim. "The DOJ's prosecution of Dr. Haim for blowing the whistle on criminal child abuse is wrong," the letter reads. "As the Subcommittee examines this matter to inform potential legislative reforms that would enhance civil liberties and protect minors, we believe that the Texas Children's Hospital possesses relevant documents and information." Jordan, who chairs the Judiciary Committee, and Roy, who chairs the Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government, called on Texas Children's Hospital to turn over all relevant communications and documents surrounding Haim and the transgender treatments on minors. Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

The alleged murderer of CEO Brian Thompson, Luigi Mangione, was caught red-handed with the murder weapon and a manifesto at a McDonald’s — but some Americans aren’t buying the story. “Guys, it’s obvious that this is some sort of psychological operation, MK-Ultra,” Alex Stein of “Prime Time with Alex Stein” comments, noting that Mangione apparently went to the same high school as a man who was recently caught roaming the streets looking for random Washington Commanders NFL fans to beat up. “What are the chances? Two guys going viral for basically murdering somebody on camera happen to be in the same graduating class in high school,” Stein asks guest JP Sears. “I do think it’s very bizarre that a young man with so much promise and obviously very smart — being the valedictorian of a prestigious Catholic school that I think cost $40,000 a month — it’s very odd that he would throw his life away to murder a guy that nobody even knew who he really was until he shot him,” Stein continues, asking, “Are we connecting dots, or are we smoking crack like Hunter Biden?” “I don’t think we’re part of the Biden family on this,” JP responds. “What we can definitely say is the guy was mentally not well, and was that from his internal issues or was it from external influences? It’s a very valid question, if you ask me, and if you don’t think it is, I think you’re the nut job.” “We know for sure the CIA has MK-Ultra programs, and I’d imagine other entities, potentially even more nefarious than the CIA, have their version of MK-Ultra programs,” he continues before Stein takes the conspiracy theories even further. Mangione was found at a McDonalds, which is not only strange in itself but follows a string of incidents that made national news recently that all had something to do with McDonalds. One X user, Vision4theBlind, connected these dots, writing in a post: “It starts out Trump ‘works’ at a McDonald’s. Shortly after there is an alleged E coli outbreak at McDonald’s. Shortly after this Trump, Elon Musk and Robert Kennedy Jr. take a photo eating McDonald’s while on a plane. Today the alleged assassin of the UnitedHealthcare CEO was allegedly detained at you guessed it, a McDonald’s.” “What’s really going on?” The anonymous user asked before also pointing out that the backpack allegedly belonging to Mangione contained Monopoly money — which is a game McDonald’s is known for using to sell its products. “It’s the Truman Show [sic],” the user added. “Am I crazy for thinking that’s very bizarre?” Stein asks. “No, Alex. You’re crazy for other reasons,” JP answers. Want more from Alex Stein?To enjoy more of Alex's culture jamming, comedic monologues, skits, and street segments, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

One of the most haunting and captivating games about war has returned with new DLC to celebrate ten years since launch. This War of Mine, the sophomore project from 11 Bit Studios, just received a substantial update, and all proceeds will benefit a selection of charities that help communities harmed by conflict. Continue reading Harrowing survival game This War of Mine celebrates 10th birthday with new DLC MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best survival games, Best war games, Best PC games

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